Time of Dying
by Lillith Roze
Summary: In Chapter 2 of Ironside Holly Black's soontobe book, Roiben sends a message to Silarial saying that nothing about her tempts him. But is this really the case? What if Silarial comes to see for herself? RoibenKaye With a hint Just a bit! of RS.


A/N: Helllllooooo!!! How art thou! My friend and I wrote this. (Harey: But I wrote most of it!) No you did not, Harey, because I had to deal with most of your griping for just this much, and I don't care. **_toss toss_**…as in my hair… Anyschway, I am putting this on the air-er-internet because Harey won't stop bugging me about it, and then she says that she doesn't like it that much. So… la sigh The title might change, but I like it, so it stays…

I'm sorry about not updating DD yet, but I just don't know what I'm going to do on it. I have to figure it out with a co-writer. I haven't had a chance to think of it yet. I know, I know, you're probably like, "Well, if you didn't have time to write DD, then where did you get the time to write this?" It's because my 'friend' (Don't hit me, Harey! That hurt!) forced me to at all hours of the night. And so I decided—don't hit me again, Harey!—_we_ decided to put it here. So there.

On to the story!

**Time of Dying**

Chapter I

A sudden silence spread throughout the Unseelie Court. Roiben looked up, and when his silver eyes met emerald, he felt the breath leave his lungs.

Silarial was advancing quickly toward him, the members of the court making way for her. The beautiful, yet wicked smile on her face sent some strange emotion tearing through Roiben, something he couldn't identify. Fear? Maybe. Desire? Definitely. More than anything, he felt helpless.

He knew she would try to hurt him in one way or another, and he would be completely unable to stop it. Maybe he wanted her to hurt him. Maybe he had been begging for it all along. Yes, he did want it; he wanted it more at that moment than anything else he had ever wanted.

He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to give in to her domination, or resist it. All he knew was that despite the message he told Ethine to give to her, Silarial still had almost total control over him. And whatever she demanded of him, he would give—unless it involved hurting Kaye. He would rather die. Or so he thought.

He stood as Silarial approached, but when she drew close enough to touch him, he fell to his knees, his head bowed. Her laugh was the most achingly beautiful sound he had ever heard.

"You are the king of the Court that rivals my own, yet you still bow to me. Why is that? Does that not indicate where your loyalties truly lie? You have just revealed to the whole of your Court that your position as king of it is nothing more than an act."

She reached down and tilted his bowed head up, one hand barely touching his jaw, and kissed him deeply, possessively.

He willingly lost himself in that kiss, not caring whether or not he would ever come back. He kissed her back fiercely, breathlessly, mouth open, shuddering with pleasure and immeasurable desire. He wrapped one hand around the back of her neck, one around her waist, desperately trying to pull her down to him. Lust burned in his veins, consuming his flesh from the inside out. He could never get enough of her, never.

She broke away suddenly, and Roiben, this moment of passion much too short for his liking, uttered a small, pathetic whimper. "Don't stop now," he pleaded, so softly he could barely hear himself.

"Are you still so certain you are free from me?"

"No," he replied, still unable to speak any louder than a breath. "I love you." It came out before he heard himself speak it. "I would do anything for you. Anything. Even if it kills me. I would not hesitate to end my own life to give you pleasure for a single moment. Please, tell me, what can I do?"

There was an endless, painful silence.

"There is nothing."

"Nothing, my lady?"

"Well, there is one thing…"

"What? What is it you would have me do? I wish for nothing more than to serve you. If there is nothing I shall die." He was clinging to her hand pitifully.

"Kill your precious pixie, Rath Roiben Rye."

Her words were shards of ice, piercing his tender, exposed flesh; arrows with tips as cold as the archer's heart striking the intended target to bring down the prey; forever ensuring his fervent, undying obedience.

* * *

Kaye arrived upon the scene, the Unseelie Court was in an uproar, and Roiben was nowhere to be found. She felt her heart leap into her throat, her pulse beginning to race. 

_Please, please, please…_ she thought. _Don't let him be hurt, don't let him be dead._

She stopped cold when she saw the women she'd spoken with at the coronation, the ones who had tricked her into making a declaration.

"Oh, look! If it isn't that pixie!"

"You're too late, little Ironsider."

"He won't last long now."

"He clearly isn't suited for his position."

"Maybe we should be the ones to finish him."

"He'd suffer so beautifully for us, wouldn't he?"

"Those pretty eyes, so wide with fear."

"Stop!"

"You still want him girl?" The first one said in a condescending tone. "Even after what he did?"

"What happened?" Kaye demanded.

"You mean you don't know?"

"He bowed to her, the Seelie Queen."

"_And_ he _kissed_ her."

"When she pulled away, he begged her not to stop."

"You should have _seen_ the way he was kissing her."

"Like he wanted to _devour_ her."

That was all Kaye had to hear. She took off in the direction of Roiben's room, desperate thoughts of betrayal running through her mind. What if _she_ was in there with him? And they were…

_NO! Don't even _think_ that!_ She told herself. _Roiben wouldn't do that to you…would he? _He couldn't have done what he had already done if really loved her. And he obviously didn't.

_Just think about it._ The pessimistic part of her mind told her. _He sends you on the most impossible quest anyone could think of, and then he runs off with Silarial._ Tears had begun to well in her eyes, but then a though occurred to her and she laughed bitterly.

They both reminded her of her mother. Ellen was always pining after some man she couldn't have, someone who would only hurt her, never thinking of the damage until it was done.

Was that all Roiben has been doing? Playing with her? She'd been too trusting. He'd really seemed like…It had seemed real. Their relationship. The way he had spoken about her, to her. The way he had risked his life for her. How could it have all changed so fast?

She came at last to his door, took a deep breath, and opened it, relieved to find him alone. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands.

"Roiben?" He looked up, and it shocked her when she noticed it appeared as if he'd been crying. He jumped up, and darted to the door, shoving her out of his room and slamming the door in her face all in the space of a second. She blinked a few times, confused and hurt at his reaction.

"I…wanted to talk to you…" she said through the door, hoping, knowing he would hear her.

"No!" he replied, sharply. He really was acting strange.

"I just wanted to know why you did it. What… I thought…" She began to cry softly, despite how hard she had been attempting to stay calm.

On the other side of the door, he had his left had hovering over the knob, shaking, trying not to open the door, trying to not hurt her. His other hand was clutching the hilt of his sword so tightly, it hurt.

"Kaye…" he said quietly. "Run…"

Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuunnn…..

I wonder what happens? Find out in the latest installment of…

THE SPACE INVADERS FROM EARTH!!!!

…

……

cough cough

Sorry…TT' That just kinda popped into my head… GIT 'ER DONE!! _**gets shot in the head by Harey**_ Harey: I hate that thing beyond belief!!!! **_shoot shoot_** No…what does a gun make…..OH!! **_bang bang_**

Anyway, I know that that was kinda short, but shut up. I know. I do care, but I can't help it. I'm not amazing like Rozefire or anyone like that. Sorry! I won't bother you to review, because I hate that, but you may if you like.

BTW, the stupid asterisks aren't working, and if anybody knows how to get them to _stay_, I would very much appreciate it. I just bolded and italicized the actions.


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